August 16th, 2024
1. The annual event of the Council of the Americas was held
Last Wednesday, August 14th, the Council of the Americas held the 2024 edition of the Latin American Cities Conferences at the Alvear Hotel. The event was attended by the most important figures in Argentine politics such as President Javier Milei; the Chief of Cabinet of Ministers; the Ministers of Economy, Foreign Affairs, Security, and Deregulation and Transformation of the State; and the governors of the provinces of Neuquén, Chubut and Jujuy. Representatives of the most important technology and IT companies, such as Globant, Salesforce, Meta, AWS and Google Cloud, also participated and talked about AI. The most awaited speech was given by President Javier Milei, who spoke on the economic and financial results of his government: “This is the first time in history that we have a positive result without being in default. There is no longer any monetary faucet in Argentina and that is basically why the dollar has stabilized”. He also highlighted that they have embarked on “a reform program that is the largest in all of Argentine history”. Milei rejected devaluation and expressed hope to “change productivity levels”: “We are not willing to devalue [the peso] to ruin Argentines, we are going to work on changing their productivity levels so that Argentines do not have to impoverish themselves because of the messes made by poor quality economists and governments of the worst kind”. However, he warned: “We are still paying the price for the monetary emission that equaled thirteen GDP points the last year, but, thanks to the fiscal and monetary anchor, we managed to avoid hyperinflation, and we are lowering it. In fact, I always like to work with the issue of wholesale inflation because it is the one that anticipates the behavior of inflation, and when we arrived, in December, wholesale inflation was 54% monthly”.
Ámbito Financiero: Javier Milei rechazó devaluar y dijo que “es falso que no se pueda crecer con cepo”
2. Inflation and basic food basket data released
The July CPI was 4% and not only showed a further slowdown, but reflected the lowest number of the year. To find similar variations in prices at a general level, it is necessary to go back to the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022. The Indec reported that inflation accumulated 87% so far this year, and totaled 263.4% in the last months. The core measure -which does not include seasonal or regulated prices- reached 3.8%. On the other hand, the Total Basic Food Basket (CBT) rose 3.1%, and a typical family of four needed $ 900,647 to not be poor in July, according to INDEC. In addition, a family needed $ 405,697 not to be indigent, according to the same report that measures the Basic Food Basket (CBA) and includes only the minimum a family must spend to eat in the month. Thus, the CBT has risen 261.8% year-on-year and accumulates 81.7% in 2024, also below inflation, which reached 87%. Meanwhile, the CBA rose 263.4% in the last 12 months and the accumulated figure for the year is 68.6%.
Clarín: Canasta Básica: una familia necesitó $ 900.647 en julio para no ser pobre
La Nación: Inflación de julio: retomó el camino a la baja y cerró el mes en 4%
3. 63% of children in Argentina live in poverty
The report “Barometer of Social Debt of Childhood” from the Argentine Catholic University (UCA), which analyzes the situation of poverty and indigence in children and adolescents in Argentina, revealed that 63% of children and adolescents in Argentina live in poverty, and 16.2% in extreme poverty, marking the highest level since 2010. The study highlights that 56.3% of them suffer at least one deprivation of basic rights such as food, housing, and health. In addition, 32.2% of minors do not have access to nutritious food, and 13.9% have experienced hunger due to lack of resources. Meanwhile, UNICEF published the report “State of Childhood and Adolescence” reflecting that nearly one million children in Argentina go to bed without dinner every night. The economic crisis has exacerbated the vulnerability of these children, highlighting the lack of access to adequate nutrition and basic services such as health and education, which perpetuates a cycle of poverty and social exclusion.
El Litoral: Informe de la UCA: el 63 % de los niños y adolescentes del país son pobres y el 16,2 son indigentes
4. Amid a controversy over gender violence, former President Alberto Fernández resigned from the presidency of the Justicialist Party
The former Argentine president, Alberto Fernández, has been embroiled in a serious scandal in recent days after being accused of domestic violence by his ex-partner, Fabiola Yáñez. Yáñez, who currently resides in Madrid with their child, filed formal charges in Argentina, accusing Fernández of having beaten and threatened her during their relationship. The allegations include accounts of physical and psychological violence. The case has escalated with the publication of photos of Yáñez with bruises on her face and body, which has intensified media attention and public pressure. Despite the accusations, Fernández has categorically denied the charges, stating that he has never hit a woman and he trusts that the judicial system will exonerate him. This scandal has also provoked political reactions, with the current president, Javier Milei, and the former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner harshly criticizing Fernández, further increasing political tension in the country. In the wake of this scandal, Alberto Fernández submitted his resignation as president of the Justicialist Party on Wednesday afternoon, and was charged on Thursday by federal justice for serious injuries and coercive threats. “In response to various journalistic statements and the complaint related to gender issues that are publicly known and so as not to tarnish the honors that the Justicialist Party deserves to me, I have the political and moral duty to express myself, waiting for the situation to be clarified. Under no circumstances am I going to let the government take advantage of this complaint against me to hide the terrible problems our Argentine people have,” says the text sent by the former president to the board of the Justicialist Party Council.
Infobae: Alberto Fernández renunció como presidente del Partido Justicialista
5. After 22 hours of debate, the Chamber of Deputies is back in session
In a tense session that lasted 22 hours, the Chamber of Deputies approved on Wednesday a series of initiatives proposed by the ruling party, among which are the creation of the Registry of Genetic Data and several international agreements. It also approved a proposal of the PRO which seeks to establish compulsory education as an essential service -to put a stop to teachers’ strikes-; and the Law for the Financing of National Universities, at the request of the UCR. But then the session fell due to lack of quorum, leaving pending the treatment of the Firearms Regularization Law and a declaration repudiating the electoral fraud in Venezuela. Meanwhile, the session called by Encuentro Federal for this Thursday to debate the DNU that assigns reserved funds to the SIDE was postponed for next week.